I, V, Gotham Legend

Clark was adopted by a local farmer couple in Kansas. Perhaps it was the influence of his adoptive parents, or perhaps it was his innate qualities, but Clark grew up to be kind and just.

Unlike Gotham's Batman, Superman became a superhero not to save anything or believe in anything, he just felt that he had the ability to do it and should do it.

But he didn't want to be too different. Deep down, Clark was afraid of loneliness.

"Carl." As Clark walked into the interior of the spacecraft, a mature and empty voice sounded.

Kal-El is Clark Kent's real name as a Kryptonian. There is only one being on this planet who is not even a human who calls him that.

A man in a white robe walked out of the spaceship. His figure flickered, and it was obvious that he was just a projection.

Clark's biological father, Jor-El, injected part of his consciousness into the spacecraft, and whenever Clark felt lost, he would return here.

"People are afraid of me, but they admire me more. But no matter what, I can feel resistance and alienation." Clark looked at his hands.

He had only been a superman for half a year, but he still felt that he was out of tune with this world.

No matter how strong the shoulders are, they will still feel the pressure. Whenever he can't bear it anymore, he will come back to talk to his father. This is the person in the world who understands his abilities best, better than he knows himself.

Just like a tree hole, after complaining, the one who returns to the world is still the ever-sunny superman.

27. Initiative

Seeing his son's distress, Jor-El's illusion flickered. He could understand Clark's feelings.

"You know what? My son, the Kryptonians didn't have to be exterminated so cleanly." Joe's phantom walked up to Clark. "I calculated the future of Krypton's destruction, but no one believed it. They labeled me an alarmist wizard. Until the end, I had no choice but to let you leave alone."

"Why did you..." Clark wanted to ask his father why he didn't run away with him, but Joe interrupted him.

"Krypton is my home planet. I was born and my mission is to protect it. It is my destiny to be destroyed along with it." Joe tried to touch Clark, but his hand went through the young man's face. "But you are different. You were just a newborn baby back then."

Clark thought he understood what his father meant when he said, "I will also give everything for my hometown."

"No, that's not the point I'm telling you." Joe shook his head. "Intelligent creatures are smart when they are taken individually. They will calculate gains and losses and consider the pros and cons of right and wrong. But when intelligent creatures gather together as a group, they will become stupid and easy to manipulate.

No matter how powerful an individual is, he or she will feel uneasy, because the crowd will always be larger than the individual. In order to dispel this uneasiness, the individual will join the crowd, and when a situation that is different from his or her own cognition appears, he or she will think, "Everyone thinks so, so there must be no problem."

Herd mentality makes people stupid under the influence of consensus, even if the consensus is just a bubble that will burst at the slightest touch.”

Jor-El looked at the cabin behind him and said, "We should seize the initiative and start with the masses to attract the attention of the whole society. If I had thought of this earlier, perhaps the Kryptonians would not have such a bleak ending."

"Seize the initiative..." Superman didn't understand, "Then what should I do?"

"Get to know the masses, become one of them, understand how they really see you, and understand what you want to become."

"I've been doing this as a citizen and as a journalist," Clark Kent said.

"It's not pure enough. You are the proudest achievement of my life. You have the strongest ability among all Kryptonians. Even if you are very low-key now, you are still superior to ordinary people." Jor-El raised his hand and the shadow touched Clark's face. "If one day you are ready to give up your ability temporarily, you can come to me again."

"Giving up my ability..." Clark couldn't feel the touch, "Is this necessary?"

"Of course not. This is just one of the ways to solve your troubles. You are out of tune with society because of your abilities. So take a look at the world of ordinary people after they lose their abilities." Joel summarized it succinctly.

"I don't think I'm so distressed that I've lost myself." Clark straightened up, wiped away the gloom on his face, and became the perfect Superman again.

"…Anyway, I'm proud of you, son." With that, Jor-El's body disappeared as if turning off a light.

Clark silently watched the interior of the spacecraft fall into silence again. He flew to the large disc in the center and looked at the black chip installed on it.

That is the body with the remaining consciousness of his father. As time goes by, his father's consciousness will gradually dissipate. Therefore, Jor-El is also trying to shorten the time he appears as much as possible.

After Joe was completely unable to appear as an apparition, Clark really had no connection with Krypton, the planet where he was born.

"I'm proud of you too..."

After whispering, Superman floated up again and flew out of the spaceship.

In the sky that had not yet been ravaged by pollution, the last Kryptonian flew at the speed of sound back to his home.

...

At NASA, the staff were busy as something major just happened that could cause the entire system to collapse.

The Artemis probe satellite launched towards Callisto five years ago has been sending signals to NASA, but just now, the satellite suddenly malfunctioned mysteriously after capturing an unknown signal.

Taking into account the delay caused by distance, this happened almost an hour ago.

"Did it hit a meteorite?" the person in charge of the project asked nervously.

The satellite, which cost at least 40 million yuan, was damaged unexpectedly. The loss caused by this incident is more than just a waste of money.

"No, after careful calculations, the satellite will not come into contact with the asteroid, especially that strange signal... We suspect it is something else..." An experienced scientist pursed his lips, "Like... aliens."

"Aliens? Will they invade the earth like in the movies?" The Consul General did not find it difficult to accept. NASA was already mentally prepared for the existence of aliens in the universe, not to mention that Superman's activities had become more and more frequent recently.

"I can't say for sure, but Jupiter is at least 600 million kilometers away from us. Considering this distance, it should be safe within three years." The scientist didn't say a single definite word.

This "security" is based on the current level of human technology.

"I will discuss with the people above what to do. Please prepare some information and come up!" The commander-in-chief pinched his baldness and left in a sweat.

The unexpected emergency made everyone in the bureau feel uneasy that a storm was about to come.

...

The aliens have not yet had any impact on the people of Earth, and these things that only the bigwigs would worry about have nothing to do with Valerie now.

Early this morning, before Helena got up, Valerie put on her makeup and went out alone. She bought a bunch of newspapers excitedly.

When Helena walked out of the bedroom sleepily, she saw Valerie sitting at the dining table with her legs crossed and reading a newspaper. There were several bowls of soup on the table.

For a moment, Helena felt a little bit of home.

Even though she lost both her parents at a young age, it seemed like everything on TV was played out like this: the child waking up in the morning, the mother doing housework, and the father reading the newspaper.

Although Valerie's personality hardly gives people a mature feeling, the sense of security she can bring to people is really like the description of parents on TV. Uncle Baker is not that reliable.

"Hey, you're awake. Have you brushed your teeth? Did you see the electric toothbrush I used for you?" Valerie raised her eyes and saw Helena's sleepy eyes.

"I've tried it. To be honest, that thing made me feel like my bones were shaking." Helena said, rubbing her still numb temple.

"It's normal. You'll like this feeling... Let's eat first. I learned how to make corn soup in a middle school in Gotham." Valerie said to Helena, pointing at the table.

Helena walked over to the table and smelled the corn chowder, which sounded familiar.

"Don't be surprised. I've improved the taste. Cooking skills are also a skill." Valerie boasted as usual, "It also has the effect of increasing the maximum health value."

"Is that so?" Helena nodded perfunctorily. She was used to the way Valerie always described real things as if they were games.

NO28. () died again

Helena sat at the dining table, sipping corn chowder, which, to be honest, wasn't very tasty.

This is not because of Valerie's cooking skills, but after dozens of experiments and actual evaluations by the test subject Victor, it is found that only food that tastes bad can add positive buffs.

Since there was no need for a buff, Valerie's drink wasn't too bad, but it wasn't delicious either.

Make sure you don't pick at your mouth every day, so that you won't hesitate to drink something disgusting when an emergency situation arises.

Anyway, we can just have the big meal at night.

While drinking her soup, Helena stole a glance at the newspaper in Valerie's hand. There were unfamiliar photos on the newspaper, but she could still understand the eye-catching large words.

"Hmm? 'Obtaining decisive evidence with the help of Superman', is this the thing from yesterday?" Helena looked at the reporter's signature under the title, and it was indeed a familiar name.

"This reporter is quite courageous." Valerie nodded in approval.

The reason why Gotham's Vicki Vale dares to report everything is because she has the support of three powerful forces: the Romans, the Wayne Group, and a Gotham City councilman. In comparison, this Louise does not seem to have such a strong background.

"It's rare for everything to be controlled by evil forces like in Gotham. It's normal for media people like in Metropolis to dare to speak out." Helena expressed her opinion.

"It's hard to say." Valerie shook her head, "Maybe the power that controls everything is just hiding deeper."

Even in a society like Gotham where gangs are so rampant that they don't even bother to pretend, there are still deeper forces like the Court of Owls.

Helena thought Valerie was having some conspiracy theories, so she decided to just keep eating her soup.

Valerie flipped through the newspaper again, but this time she didn't read the contents carefully. Instead, she continued to flip through several pages as if she was impatient.

Finally, she excitedly found the page where she was interviewed and read it carefully as if she was appreciating a work of art.

Helena couldn't help but crane her neck, but the words were too small and she could only barely see them clearly.

"V, the Super Mercenary from Gotham..." Helena chewed on the title, feeling it was a bit strange, "Why is it called a Super Mercenary? It feels like a high-level soldier in a game."

"That reporter insisted on adding a super prefix to my name. Superhuman is too common and I'm not a hero." Valerie said with a pout.

Isn't he a hero?

Helena glanced at Valerie's stubborn pink little mouth and took another sip of corn soup.

The morning air is always fresh. Before having breakfast, they opened the windows to let in some fresh air. Helena enjoyed her breakfast very much.

After flipping through a few more pages of the newspaper, Valerie suddenly stopped and stared at a promotional advertisement in the newspaper with a look of surprise.

"What's wrong?" Helena stretched her neck again.

"Nothing, just a movie poster." Valerie handed the newspaper to Helena. "Want to go to the movies later?"

Helena saw the picture on the newspaper clearly. It was a picture of a man and a woman embracing each other passionately under a gloomy sky.

"Adapted from the murder of the Waynes...a movie like this appears every now and then," Helena complained.

Thomas Wayne was once a world-renowned figure. Such a wealthy man died with his wife in an ordinary robbery, which made people all over the world talk about it.

The assassination of the Waynes has become excellent material in the eyes of major directors and has been repeatedly brought to the big screen, so much so that movie fans around the world often exclaim, "The Waynes are dead again."

Bruce Wayne, who had a close relationship with the incident, did not express his dissatisfaction publicly. After all, he had disappeared for more than seven years, and when those directors first filmed this subject, they thought that there was no one in the Wayne family anymore.

"I didn't expect you would be interested in this kind of movie." Helena looked at the promotional poster and felt that this one should be centered around love. In her opinion, love is a word that cannot be associated with V.

"This movie means a lot to me." Valerie looked at the familiar signatures of the creative team.

Three months ago, when she was still a confused rookie, she accepted a mission to be a bodyguard for a film crew. That was her first contact with supernatural enemies.

“Although I knew they were making a very heavy movie, I didn’t expect it to be of this subject matter,” Valerie said with emotion.

"This Johnny is quite famous, but he seems to be a singer?" Helena, who was still looking at the list of leading actors, asked in surprise, "Can a movie like this really be good?"

"It doesn't matter. Do you want to see it? We can go there in the afternoon and then go to the circus in the evening." Valerie said with planning.

It was a strange travel plan, but one that Valerie came up with on the spur of the moment.

Helena nodded in agreement. She didn't care.

...

A bus stopped at the square in Metropolis. Harlin got off the bus with her luggage and took a deep breath of the fresh air which was completely different from Gotham.

She originally wanted to go to Central City, but unexpectedly won discounted tickets to a five-star hotel in Metropolis through an online lottery.

In order to enjoy this hotel, she specially applied to her superior for a creative adjustment of leave and moved her vacation to the second half of the month.

It is always sunny in the metropolis. Harlin pulled her suitcase and walked into the luxurious-looking O'Neill Hotel, which was bigger than she had imagined.

As soon as she entered the door, the staff came up and took her luggage. As a Gotham native, Harlin instinctively didn't want to hand it over, but looking at the staff's kind expression, she realized that this place was different from Gotham.

The room check-in went smoothly, and the uneasiness that had always been in Harlin's heart about the possibility of being scammed was dispelled after she got the key card.

On the way to the room, Harlin looked around nervously. She did not hear the screams of the drug addicts, the sounds of fighting, or any suspicious signs of renovation on the walls.

Harlin swiped open the door, and the staff left after delivering the luggage to the room without making any rude moves towards Harlin.

Perhaps it was because the service in high-end hotels was more thoughtful, but all these details helped Harleen understand herself and no longer be in a dangerous environment like Gotham.

Maybe you can relax now.

Harlin took a deep breath and then opened the door. She was going to go downstairs to buy some drinks first.

But the moment she opened the door, she was stunned.

A handsome white-haired man walked past Harlin in the corridor. He just glanced at her with his eagle-like eye and continued walking as if he saw nothing.

Harleen knew him. He seemed to be the mercenary who was sent to Blackgate on the day when the Joker wreaked havoc in Gotham.

Since she was transferred to Arkham, Harlin didn't know the situation in Blackgate, but logically speaking, shouldn't this guy be in prison?

Cold sweat soaked Harlin's back, and she realized that she relaxed too early.

NO29. Preaching

The white-haired man passed by the psychiatrist's room. He recognized Harlin but didn't care.